New Cab Shelf

Back in 2016, I removed the old falling-apart sun visors that we couldn't use because they were so decrepit. In their place, I built a shelf, reusing the holes that supported the sun visors. Today's post is a revisit of that work. If you want to get grounded in the original, see Sunshade to Shelf. This version might better suit your need if you have a drop ceiling, and you are not attached to your sun-visors. 

Before I get into today's post... Boo and I hit a brand new venue in SE Portland on Sunday, 10-April (The Get Down, officially opened 8-April-2022) for Pink Talking Fish. You may recall my reference to them in the 4Peaks 2019 - Music Report where I said they were the buzz of the festival. We also caught them in February of 2020 at Mississippi Studios right before the CoViD-19 lockdown started. They have since evolved with more complicated songs, but still throwing down the funky. Translation: we danced hard. Everyone around us did too. The venue is pretty fantastic. The staff was solid, the ticket and drink prices low, and the sound mix was great. For an opening weekend, they really had it together. Boo and I highly recommend. Back to the shelf...

Why?

the original shelf installed

The original cab shelf has been such a great addition. When we were on the road or camping, that shelf was where our phones, our wallets, and pretty much anything super important goes. We would hang a privacy curtain from the edge, so it doubled as a curtain rod, sort of. In fact, if I had not gone down the path of reducing the noise in the bus, I probably would have left it alone forever.

But I did look into improving the noise in the bus. Part of that look-see including removing the wooden drop ceiling (See Noise Control Update). Once it was down, I could see that there was headroom lost to the original Westfalia interior design. With the larger Sprinter seats installed (See Hapy Seating - Part 2), that headroom was welcome. With the drop ceiling out, I figured I could move the bottom of the shelf up to where the drop ceiling was, and have sun visors again. This was a best of both worlds: I could see out the full windshield or I could flip down visors like every one else... but I would still have a shelf up top for important stuff we would like within arms' reach.

Planning

original shelf pre-install

I started with the assumption that I could take the old shelf, and shorten it a little on each side and it would work as-is. This also assumed that the cut out in the center front (front is front) that I originally made to accommodate the rear view mirror could be reshaped to fit around the metalwork that remained from the original Westy pop-top directly above the rear view mirror. This metal work supported the little tang that the old pop top would latch onto when it was lowered. Last, the old pop top scissor-lift mechanism had supporting metalwork on either side above the doors which I would need to consider.

While test-fitting after carefully trimming the old shelf to address the "tang supporting metalwork", that metalwork simply fell off. It was held in place with a single pop-rivet, installed in September of 1971, so I guess that tells us the shelf-life of a pop-rivet. Anyway, with that out of the way, I considered the need to retain the other support bits for the long-removed scissor supports. I concluded they were not needed. Similar to that front "tang-support", the side pieces popped right off. Neat. Unfortunately, all three of these support metalwork pieces left holes in the roof where the original Westy-top scissor supports used to bolt through. So, this shelf thing grew, but, to be fair, if I hadn't been looking at these support things, I wouldn't have known that the ceiling was not as sealed as it looked. In retrospect, perhaps I could have anticipated that when I removed the original top 10 years ago. The discovery of these holes led to the removal and subsequent refresh of the luggage tub (see Refresh the Luggage Tub), which I posted about last week.

 

model and shelf start

Regardless of what happened with the support metalwork and corresponding holes, the shelf, if located directly above the sun visors, may need a more complicated line. Consider that the top front of the bus is curved both front to back and from the center down to the sides. So, if I simply jammed a shelf into the space between the top and the sides, it would be shaped like an upside down spoon. Instead, this shelf will need to be lower in the center, near the mount-point for the rear-view mirror. So, it turned out that the metal tang never really was a thing to concern myself with. LOL's. The shelf ends, however, can rest on the inner lip where the top meets the sides. This will cause the shelf to cross from above to below back to above the lip that runs across the top from one side to the other.

With these constraints in mind, I started with a basic tape measure to define the line along the front. I thought I could define a point between the mirror and the side that is consistent for both passenger and driver sides. Then, I could construct a shelf that was cut to fit above the lip on the ends and secure from below in-between. The distance from lip to lip is over 47 inches and the overall drop from the center to the side is 2-1/2 inches. At this point, I abandoned the original shelf as a material.

Modeling Again

test-fitting shelf

After many measurements, I thought I was ready. I grabbed some cardboard, measured out the mid-point, end points and lip-intersection points. Similar to the original shelf, I wanted this new one to be deep enough to fit a phone, but not so deep that things could disappear. I started with a shelf drawing that was plenty deep, planning to trim down the excess once I had cut the lip intersections. The distance between the lip and the top immediately above is, like, 2 inches, but knowing that there will be noise absorbing foam and a headliner going in there, the shelf will not go all the way in. Quite the contrary, it will hang below the lip between the intersection points.

 

shelf headroom: center

I started with a cardboard model that is 48 inches wide, 3 inches deep on the ends and 5 inches deep in the center, making the rear edge (front-is-front) straight and the front edge angled (from 3 to 5 inches from edge to center respectively). The leading (rear-facing) edge of this rough model pretty much aligned with the contour of the shelf I removed and fit better than I expected. I notched front center of the model about 1-1/4 inches across, and an inch deep to fit around the center rear view mirror. This allowed the shelf to sit back, and the front lip-to-shelf intersection point could be identified on either side. I marked and cut into the model and re-tested. Again, it fit better than expected. I noted that most of the shelf would be under the front lip, with only a few inches on either end above it. This would have created a gap across the front edge, but I re-shaped that edge of the model with blue tape to extend deeper. This will eliminate the opportunity for things to slide off that edge of the shelf, and create a way to attach the shelf with small fasteners to the lip, strengthening the overall install. The overall width of the shelf could be no less than 48 inches. This left less than 1/2" on either side to rest on the lip at the edges.

Install Timing Considerations

dome light

Once I had the model defined, I had to think about the timing of this install a little bit. My plan at this point was to apply the noise absorption (Mega Zorbe) and headliner after I have the shelf in. The shelf will make it harder to get a headliner installed, but the fasteners for the shelf can be covered with headliner material. If I did the headliner stuff first, the fasteners would be visible, reducing the aesthetic. I also considered that if the shelf is in when the headliner goes in, I could integrate the headliner from the roof into the front edge (front is front) of the shelf. So, I pushed forward, with a loose plan of completing the shelf to the point of being ready to install, get the Mega Zorbe on to the ceiling and then mount the shelf.

12V Accessories

My last thoughts as I modeled this new shelf were about the placement of the 12V accessory plug and whether I could incorporate a downward-pointing light fixture. The question about the accessory plug was fairly simple: center it and put it above the shelf so we don't have cords hanging. Next! The light became complicated simply because I want a very small not-too-bright light with an integrated switch. There are many lights on the interweb, but they are mostly clumsy-large and/or very bright.

 

mirror view clearance

I chose this Europa RV dome light for a few reasons. First, it has integrated switches, rather than depend upon a door opening or a remote add-on switch to turn on and off. Next, there are independent swivel map lights so Boo can read, look at paper stuff or whatever while we drive. Last, this runs basic bulbs, not the super-white-almost-blue LED's that have become so common. Yuck. All three bulbs are a "168 wedge" style of bulb, so I could swap out to LED's for lower amp draw later... but they would have to be in the yellow end of the color spectrum for my taste. According to the manufacturer, this light only draws .7amps against 12.8V, so I'm not sure there's a great deal of improvement room with an LED swap other than longevity of the bulb. This light fixture will sit directly behind the rear view mirror, but because the central light is only 1-1/2 inches thick (swivels hang down another 1/4 inch), it will not block visibility through the mirror. I say that confidently based on the picture on the right here, showing a mirror image of the tape indicating at least 3 inches before it is entering my view through the mirror and on to the rear window. The fixture mounts with 2 screws through the housing found when you remove the dome light bezel. I tried suspending the light to the underside of the cardboard model to get a feel for how it would light the space. I will place it at the rearmost spot under the shelf to help the swivel lights reach our laps. I think, in an ideal setting, the dome light would attach to the ceiling allowing the swivel lights to illuminate our laps more from behind than in front of us. But, I like the idea of an uninterrupted headliner, so it is going on the underside of the shelf.

Materials

gap at the center

When I built that first shelf, I had free 3/8" plywood on hand from the original bus flooring. It was old, and partially rotten from 40 years of Pacific NorthWest moisture, but it was free. It served the purpose well, but I would rather use a material that is not rotted wood for its replacement. I considered steel. For strength, it is superior to wood at a thinner gauge, or course. That is, I can use 18 gauge steel and it would be as solid as the outside of the bus. It would, however, be another surface that could vibrate or reflect sound. MDF is solid, but it also reflects sound, and could chip off or swell from moisture. Ultimately, I went back to wood, well, "oriented strand board" or OSB. For about $9US, one can find a 4-foot long, 2-foot wide piece. According to reviews, this material is great for shelving because of how stiff it is, but I planned for a thin piece of wood trim for the leading (rear) edge anyway. I figure the trim will protect the edge of the OSB from chipping, and it will help hold the shelf firm in case reviews are wrong. Either way, it will help keep things from falling off the shelf into our laps, feet, whatever. I expect I will cover both the top and bottom with material; probably trunk carpet and headliner respectively, so the material choice will not be obvious once completed. In full transparency, after I made the material decision, I found a 4' by 2' piece leaning against a tree with a "free" sign on it while walking the dog. I swear, I had made the decision first. This was just dumb luck that someone a few streets over had extra material from building shelves in his/her/their garage. So, both shelf concepts have been built with free wood. Hahaha.

Shelf Build

gap at the end

I noted that the angle of the lip from ceiling towards the floor is closer to 45* than 90* to level, so the entire rear edge which is below the lip would benefit from an angled cut. Recall that the shelf will be above the lip only on the outermost few inches on either side. Whether the ends are angled or not makes no difference. 

Satisfied, I transferred the cardboard model onto the OSB, simply tracing the outline, and cut it with a jig saw. Yeah, I usually avoid power tools; call me old-skool. I have found that, with a hand tool, mistakes are much smaller, but in this case, getting the angle I just described cut correctly would have been too difficult by hand. Once that front line was cut, though, I wasn't finished. I test fit, noted where the shelf needed to have the curve adjusted and shaved some off. At this point, it became clear that a model for this was really just enough to get the shelf started. No cardboard magic on my part (YMMV) could have gotten this spot-on. It was during these cycles that I abandoned the notch for the rear-view mirror. The test-fits indicated that the shelf would not sit deep enough to require a notch.

over windscreen wall in

Satisfied with the fit, I discovered that the shelf still needed a back. I had thought that the shelf would sit high enough, or that it was thick enough, to not need something against the lip above the windscreen. The 2 pictures above show the space that needed to be filled in. To get a rough idea of the curve, I grabbed the old drop-ceiling out of the junk pile and cut the top couple of inches off the front-most edge. That got me close enough to mark up a simple arc out of some of my old door card material. The angled cut I made into the OSB worked to my advantage, creating a gentle tile to the arc that roughly mirrored the curve of the ceiling. It is not perfect, of course, but with the Mega Zorbe and a headliner, perhaps the finished product will have a reasonable aesthetic. I added 48inches of wood trim across the rear of the shelf (front is front). Then, I sanded edges of the rear wall, the point where it intersected with the shelf, the front edge and all the corners smooth. Ultimately, the shelf will wrapped in some material so the sanding may not have been 100% necessary. That wrapping, however, will wait.

 

Shelf Install Prep

test fit with 12V accessories

Finally, I was ready to finish and start test-installing this shelf. First, I added the 12V accessory plug and the dome light. I bored a hole through for the wiring for the dome light, sent the wires through and mounted the light. I moved the 12V accessory plug to the center of the shelf, rather than put it back in the same spot, adjacent to the passenger door A-pillar. I figured, having it more in the middle would make it much easier for me to use while driving alone, and it's location hides the wiring from the new dome light. 

 

I added a common grounding point directly above the rear-view mirror for the 2 12V accessories. I bored a hole through the door card material large enough for male wire connectors to pass through. To the 12V accessories, I added female wire connectors to the wire ends, expecting to put male connectors on the the colored wires I set up earlier. I verified I had plenty of the wire, but did not plug everything in. I just needed things ready-enough at this point.

 

Last, I wanted to prepare for the shelf physical mounting. During the test fittings up to this point, it was clear that the shelf was going to be much more stable than the earlier version. So, this shelf would not require mounting points other than at the ends and it was not going to wiggle-wobble as we drove around. I borrowed from the early Westfalia metal flashing I mentioned above by cutting a pair of 2-inch squares out of some scrap HVAC sheeting to fabricate little mounts for the ends of the shelf. The bits needed a little bending, a little filing, and a few holes bored through. I mounted the bits to the shelf with tiny screws, and then confirmed the fit to the bus. I marked and bored the holes into Hapy for install, but did not actually attach it. I will bring the shelf back out once the Mega Zorbe is installed. While it is out, I will attach trunk carpet, and maybe a thin layer of foam, to its top, so it is a more complete piece. I haven't decided if the rest of it will get a trunk carpet or headliner treatment. 

This is as far as I have gotten, and will get, until the Mega Zorbe is in and I have made a decision about a headliner. So, that's it for today. Thanks, as always, for following along-